Dreams
by Rookie-Bee
Summary: Once upon a time lived a girl.  Characters: 9, 10, Rose, Martha, Donna


Once upon a time lived a young girl. She lived in an ordinary place and had an ordinary job. All her life, she wished for three things.

The first was of love, a dream held by most of the world. Her heart was broken, and the girl pushed the dream aside. She found a boy, and though she told herself he was nice and funny, and would do, she secretly wished for more.

Her second dream was of her father. He'd died when she was young, and she had always look on with envy as her friends sat on their dads' laps or held their hands, but she looked at her life and wondered what her dad would be proud of, anyway. And so the girl pushed away her second dream.

Her third dream was to explore. She lived in a not-so-little city where most people would love to spend their life, but the girl always wished for more. She rarely saw the sea- only a couple of times- and lived near neither beautiful fields or rolling hills. Her home was loud and concrete, and she longed to see something a little different. She held onto this dream, and thought of the pictures she'd seen in books to get her through the workday, half-heartedly convincing herself that someday she would go.

Then, one ordinary day, she met a mysterious man. He swept into her life, and changed it in a moment.

He was gone as fast as he'd come.

But the girl sought to find this wizard and did, now determined to not lose him again.

She proved herself to him, and felt more alive facing the monsters that lay beneath her town than she ever had in all her years of living.

The wizard offered that she come with him in his magical box, free to travel the world- no, the universe- at no charge. The girl looked up at the sky that she'd never considered as an option before. She looked down at her boyfriend, around at her home, thinking of her mother who had also had to live without the girl's father. She looked back at the man and declined his offer of danger and excitement. And so the girl let go of her final dream.

She let out a shaky breath, already filled with regret at her choice, and prepared herself to go home and find a new job in the same old city with the same old boy when the box came back.

This time she went with the wizard, and he took her to unbelievable destinations, solving one dream. She met her father, and as he told her how proud he was of her, she smiled through her tears, knowing that the magical man had granted her the solution to the second of her dreams.

The girl didn't think of her final dream again until one day when she looked up at the wizard and knew that she'd found her love.

The man had solved all of her dreams, and she found herself wishing for nothing else.

Once upon a time lived a girl.

She was smart and pretty, and knew so, and always wished of true love. She didn't really believe in it, but like many dreams, she wished it were true anyway.

She liked to pretend that her parents were soul mates, that they were truly in love. She ignored the fighting, the signs that they both wanted out, and she was crushed when they separated.

She told herself that maybe they hadn't been truly in love, but such a thing might still exist.

Then, one ordinary day, the girl met a wizard. He disguised himself as a normal man, like the gods in the myths she used to read did.

He kissed her, he saved her life, then she saved his. Then the magical man offered her a trip, just one, as a thank you.

She declined at first, thinking of her job and her family, of her life, but he assured her that his magical box could make it so no time passed at all, and proved it with a 'cheap' trick.

She said goodbye to the real world and entered the wizard's. It was full of witches and cat-people and other imaginary things, so she dared to hope that maybe this world would grant her one more imaginary thing- true love.

The girl followed him from place-to-place, hoping that her unrequited love would be returned, but the wizard loved another, an ordinary girl that was too far for him to reach.

The girl left, heartbroken for the first time, back to her ordinary life without imaginary things like true love to taunt her.

She thought back to her trips with the wizard. There, she had met a man. She had shared a year with him, but the year was no more than a story now, and the man would not remember her, so the girl made herself forget about him. Less than a week later, her friend announced her engagement, and the girl picked up the phone.

The man was a doctor, like she was, like her wizard, and she fell in love. They were engaged, they were happy, but the girl really knew another man. A man who had disappeared with the year that now never was, and her heart was broken for a second time.

The girl lived her life again. It was different, now. The imaginary creatures had bled over from her wizard's world, roaming the streets of hers.

The girl found her wizard again, and he had found his love. The way he looked at this girl made the girl's heart ache, and she wondered, yet again, if true love might exist.

Then she met her prince.

He knew the wizard, shared the things with her that her ex-fiancé couldn't, and he loved her. She loved him back, and when he proposed, she wondered if this was true love. She wasn't sure, but she knew it wasn't false, and that was good enough for her.

Once upon a time lived a woman.

She hated her life, and never thought much of herself. She snapped at people around her when she felt inadequate or like no one cared.

Then, one day, she met a man. He was her prince, her Lancelot, and he was there to save her.

On the day of her wedding, however, everything changed. She suddenly needed salvation from him, and that salvation came in the form of a dark and powerful wizard. Her not-prince died, and her wizard offered that she come with him. She declined, because now she knew that life was more than she thought. She could do whatever she wanted on her own, and she would.

She told the wizard to find someone else, and his ancient eyes showed no expression, but as he told her the name of his lost love, she saw sadness, regret, and something indistinguishable in his previously dark eyes. The woman felt there was some sort of lesson there, but feeling daft, she went inside for Christmas dinner.

Her plan to travel the world turned out the same as most plans made without any real planning went, and she found herself living with her mum and granddad.

She ignored her mums nagging- or tried, though a few harsh remarks did hit hard- and sat on the hill with her granddad. As she looked up at the stars, she made a wish. It came true.

Her next adventure with the wizard went terribly. She had imagined the universe as a beautiful place, but it was much darker than shed imagined. In spite of that though, through the darkness there were moments of brilliance, and for some strange reason, the wizard thought she was one of them.

Throughout all the woman did with the wizard, she felt more brilliant than ever. Not because she thought she was, not because of something she had done, but because the powerful wizard, who made monsters turn and flee at the mention of his name, thought she was. And because he needed her, and that was wonderful.

The woman now has no recollection of any of her travels with the wizard, and doesn't know he ever existed. She has some gaps in her memory that make her feel more inadequate than ever, but for some reason she can't figure out, she also feels kind of brilliant.

Once upon a time lived a wizard.

He is known by many names: the Doctor, Merlin, the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, the Destroyer of worlds, and more.

His titles echo across the universe, bringing both fear and hope. Many think him a god, but he knows better.

He is no god, no storm, no wizard. He is only a funny old man with a box.

He knows love, hate, fear, hope, darkness, light, and he sees it all by means of his stolen ship. His home is gone, his people gone, but once in a while he makes a friend, joins a family.

They think that he saves them- from dying, from their life, from themselves, but he knows that the opposite is true.

They save him. Every day.


End file.
